Storm-force winds brought trees down and left thousands of homes without power today.

Storm-force winds brought trees down and left thousands of homes without power today.

Gusts of up to 70mph sent a century-old tree crashing to the ground early today.

The tree, around four feet wide, blocked the road between Redmarshall and Bishopton, near Stockton. A second tree came down at the nearby Bishopton crossroads.

They were due to be cleared from the road later today.

A police spokeswoman said the trees were just two of many.

In Darlington, a tree was blown on to a parked Volvo at the junction of Staindrop Road and Langholm Crescent and on the A1 south of Bradbury a vehicle was blown over. No one was injured in either incident.

The village Christmas tree at Carlton, Stockton, was also brought down by the gusting winds.

Wind speeds reaching up to 65mph were recorded at Teesside Airport today.

Durham Police closed the trans-Pennine A66 and the A689 Newton Cap viaduct at Bishop Auckland to high-sided vehicles at 3.30am.

Meanwhile in North Yorkshire, around 2,200 homes in the Great Ayton and Stokesley areas had their electricity cut off just before 3.30am as the worst of the conditions hit the region.

All but 12 customers were back on by 7am, a spokeswoman for Northern Electric Distribution Limited said.

"Engineers are working to trace the source of the fault for the remaining customers," she said.

In an earlier separate incident, families paid their last respects to loved ones by candlelight after a power cut at Teesside Crematorium.

Eight services were affected when the electricity failed on Christmas Eve.

No cremations were cancelled or delayed.

The power cut also led to the discovery of a quantity of asbestos in the Acklam crematorium.

Engineers traced the power problem back to damaged electrical supply switch-gear, and discovered it contained asbestos cement.